Would-Be Bird Photographer in Chicago Needs Help

[peter_novick1]

Can the contributors to this site give some advice to a reasonably competent

amateur photographer in Chicago who is trying, for almost the first time, to

attack birds with his camera?

 

Several years ago I spent a year in Palo Alto, CA, where I had reasonable

success by putting birdseed outside of my office window, and going down to the

boardwalk which reached out into San Francisco bay where there were various

shore birds.

 

Now I am back home in Chicago (I am a retired professor of history at University

of Chicago), and want to get back to photographing birds. I live in a highrise,

so there is no backyard available. Next winter I will make pilgrimages to

Florida and New Mexico where larger birds appear in abundance, but between now

and then I would like to try and sharpen my skills with whatever is around in

the Chicago area. Anyplace within an hour or so drive is OK, but various

orthopedic woes keep me from walking any great distance. (I push my gear around

in a stroller--which works very well.) The longest lens I own is newly acquired

Nikon 200-400 f4, which can be combined with my TC14EII to reach out to 560mm.

I might add that sites outside of the city are probably preferable, since inside

the city I cannot both stay glued to the viewfinder and watch that my stuff does

not get grabbed.

 

Because I have no experience with blinds, or how and when to put out food in

advance in an area I do not control, or lots of other things which many of you

have been doing for years, I need some very specific and very basic advice on

the how as well as the where and when. (I have read some of the

most-often-recommended books, like those by Shaw and Morris, but other

suggestions would be welcome.)

 

And if there is anyone in the Chicago area who would be willing to advise me and

answer questions on the phone, or anyone anywhere who would do this by email, I

would be particularly grateful. (773-955-5932 and pnovick[AT]uchicago[DOT-EDU])

 

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has to offer.

 

Peter Novick

[stemked]

Hello Peter.

 

One of the best places for large birds in the US is probably an hour or so SE of you in Jasper-Pulaski (spelling) in Indiana. Each fall (October/November) thousands upon thousands of Sandhill Cranes concentrate on the grounds there. It is easily viewable and I believe for those with disabilities maybe able to drive pretty close to the main wall that separates viewers from the fields.

 

You can obviously check birding sites for hotspots, especially the State Auduban sites. A quick link for Indiana near Chicago is here: http://www.indianaaudubon.org/Sites/SitesNW.htm I know the Dunes area is seasonally a hotspot for rare birds. As a many years film user and now a digital SLR user it is amazaing how much easier it is to photograph birds with a digital body. 95% of the images are not keepers, but when I used film I felt I had to be so much more stingy on the shutter release. That and the extra 1.5X on the digital body has really helped my move into bird photography.

[mark_chappell]

Peter: The 200-400 + 1.4X on a digital body is a very good start, and keep in mind that

lots of good bird photos can be made with little walking. Cars often serve as excellent

blinds, especially for raptors (many of my pictures of sitting hawks -- and quite a few

other species -- were taken from inside a car). You can also find plenty of wild ducks,

shorebirds, and gulls on park ponds, or probably near-shore in Lake Michigan, especially

in winter. These can often be easily approached, as they are used to people.

 

Blinds can serve a useful purpose, but they usually are best in specific situations where

one can plan ahead -- nests, feeding sites, repeatedly-used perches, etc.. Setting one up

in the hopes that something will come by hasn't been very productive, for me at least.

[SCL]

It has been pretty quiet here in McHenry for a couple of weeks, since the Coots left the preserve at the McHenry Dam trail. Nevertheless, last week I managed some pretty good closeup shots of a black heron catching fish, the ubiquitious red headed woodpecker, and various cranes and herons. Mark hit it pretty much on the button, and if you are into anatomical studies of birds (I needed to do some a couple of years ago for some woodcarvings I was doing) and don't mind photographing some in captivity, the Brookfield Zoo has a terrific waterfowl pond (last I was there lots of mergansers, a few shovlers, wood ducks and a cinnamon teal plus the mallards). Lincoln Park Zoo also has a good waterfowl pond on the north side of the zoo...it's pretty heavily shaded as I recall.

[zackojones]

"for almost the first time, to attack birds with his camera?"

 

I would recommend NOT using your camera to attack the birds. It's tough to get close to them even with a long telephoto lens :). Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Is there a zoo or anything near by where you could go practice photographing birds? Perhaps a park in the city you could go to and photograph pigeons? Any practice you get in your local area should help you when you head out into the field.

[peterlyons]

McKee Marsh, which is just north of Blackwell Forest Preserve in the DuPage county forest

preserve district, is a nice place for birding. However, while there are some wading birds

(like Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons, if the marsh is full), most of the population is

songbirds. And as you must know, it's awfully difficult to fill your frame with songbirds!

But if you like the challenge, live it up.

 

Meadowlarks like the tall grass right by the parking lot. Redwing Blackbirds are all over.

You'll spot Redheaded Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, and Northern Flickers in the

oaks, especially the grove you'll first find if you turn right at the T intersection about 1/8

mile from the parking lot. You'll also see Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Cedar Waxwings,

Goldfinches...

 

It's a nice place, but truthfully I always enjoyed it most with binoculars. Never could get

close enough to shoot much of anything there.

 

Oh, Springbrook Prairie is another good place for ducks and wading birds.

 

Both of these places have parking and crushed limestone paths, and you don't have to go

far at all to find the birds.

 

Have fun!

Peter

[peter_novick1]

Thanks to all those who replied--I will be trying out your suggestions.

 

I had one pretty far-out idea, and anyone who has good reason to believe that it is unworkable, could save me some useless effort.

 

When, as an experiment, I have, without a camera, parked myself somewhere which seemed likely, I would usually see the occasional bird, but never a great many. The reason people go to Bosque del Apache or Ding Darling is that there are LOTS of birds within a reasonable time period, so the odds of getting good pictures go way up. How to reproduce this at other locations?

 

People with backyards can spread out food (and even grow attractive plants) so that the yards become busy sites. Without a backyard, I wondered whether it would be able to produce a similar phenomenon.

 

My proposed solution (about which I invite comments) is as follows. There are several forest preserves in and around Chicago. I could find a site where (1) the light would be right at the appropriate time of day, and (2) where there is a place that I could pull my car off the road within twenty feet or so of the site. Over a period of a week or so, I would daily scatter lots of birdseed at the site. The notion is that within a week birds would get the message and start to congregate there, and I could then pull up and, from the car, fire away.

 

Is this pure fantasy, or is there a reasonable chance that it would work?

 

Peter

[alex_lofquist]

I would recommend getting the quarterly "Chicago Wilderness" magazine. It can be obtained at Barnes and Noble, and Borders. They have a website from which many articles may be downloaded: www.chicagowildernessmag.org.

[andykowalczyk]

"Chicago's Lakefront is a noted hotspot for birding, with Wooded Island and Bob-o-link Meadow (both in Jackson Park just off the U of C campus)two prime targets for bird watchers from around the world."

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<a href = "http://www.hydepark.org/parks/bird.html" > http://www.hydepark.org/parks/bird.html </a>

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[greg s]

"There are several forest preserves in and around Chicago."

 

True. I'm not a fan of the birdseed in the parking lot approach, but these are some places I would check out in the area.

 

Morton Arboretum, Herrick Lake, Fermi Labs, and some park up by Batavia I used to visit (there's a mansion/museum there).

 

Good luck! -Greg-

[JDMvW]

The zoos have not only caged birds, but also some of the tamest other birds you will find. The Canada geese at Brookfield zoo will gang up on you, and there are lots of birds in and around Lincoln Park zoo. The whole lakeshore around Lincoln Park is nice, and though the species diversity is not what it is in Kenya, it's better than you'd think with lots of shore birds along the lake. (Although sometimes you'll get a nasty tern). (sorry)

[JDMvW]

Just a thought. I'd talk to some ornithologists in Chicago or at the University of Chicago about baiting in forest preserves. I'm not a biologist, but I know that there are some issues with this sort of thing. These include building up density that will be harshly impacted if you get them accustomed to it, then stop or become irregular. It may also expose the birds to predators. I'm not sure whether the Park Commission or whatever it's called allows baiting, for these and yet other reasons.

[colvinrunphotography]

Peter - while not very exciting, if you are looking for some practice, let me suggest that you photo attack the city birds - pigeons, sparrows, and I assume you have lots of gulls off of Lake Michigan. Like I said not very exciting in terms of subject matter, but try photo capturing them in different actions (standing, in flight), a variety of conditions (different lights), and different shooting scenarios (take lots of time to set up the photo (as they will nearly pose for you) or force yourself to take a photo in just a few seconds (like what you might see in NM or Florida).

 

I do such practicing with many of the common and frequent birds that I have in my backyard habitat (http://crhabitat.blogspot.com/). The practice pays off when the occasional hawk (http://crhabitat.blogspot.com/search/label/hawk) or fox (http://crhabitat.blogspot.com/search/label/Red-tailed%20Fox) arrive. As to the baiting or bird feeding question, I came down on the side of putting out the feeders - but then again I can stock them year round.<div></div>

[paul_wasserman]

I live in Chicago and can maybe add to some of the advice offered here. First off, let me confirm that Chicago Wilderness is a good resource for it's seasonal and site specific information. Wooded Isle in Jackson park is a good birding location, best during migration. You'll find shooting waterfowl better at North Pond in Lincoln park, though, as the distances are less.

 

If you want guaranteed and exotic subjects at close range, the Lincoln Park Zoo has a couple of ponds that are always entertaining.

 

One of my favorite places for bird photography is the "Magic Hedge" at Montrose Harbor. Turn right at the bait shop and park when you get to the clump of trees on the left, about a block or two down.

 

This is a great place during migration because you get a real concentration of birds here, and they tend to be lower and closer than you'll find in larger forest preserves. There is also a protected dune and sea bird area at the beach.

 

Short of Jasper-Pulaski, the lakefront is a good place to practice the kind of in the field flight photography that you'll experience at Bosque. Find anyplace that has lots of seagulls and work with them. I like the Museum Campus for this because I'm close, and the protected area at Montrose Harbor is an option. Winthrop Harbor in Wilmette is also supposed to be good for this and other birding.

 

One of the best resources for current bird activity in the area is the ILBirds group on www.yahoo.com. Here you'll find continuous postings about what's at Montrose Harbor and other locations during the season. Click on "groups" at the left side of the main yahoo screen to sign up, and you can get e-mails updates of interesting bird sightings.

 

I also highly recommend getting a copy of "Birding the Chicago Region" by Carpenter and Greenberg for additional locations. It's also handy for identifying some of the locations you'll see discussed on ILBirds. Some of my other favorites include the Rosehill Cemetary in Chicago, and McLaury Springs in the Palos forest preserves.

 

As far as bring the birds in goes, I don't do anything, but on a number of bird outings I've seen some people be quite succesful at bringing in specific birds by playing a recording of their call. Something you might want to look into, but know that some birders have objections to this technique.

 

Paul Wasserman